|
I'm about to run a game of Trail of Cthulhu set in Great Britain in 1925. I'm quite excited, but I'm also a bit worried since it's my first time running an investigation-heavy game, my first time running Trail of Cthulhu, and my first time running a period piece. What are some good resources for Great Britain in the Roaring 20's, or adventures that take place/could be adapted for that period? I'm already including (spoiled in case one of my players reads this) "Suited and Booted" from an issue of Unspeakable Oath, altered a bit for the overall plot/big mystery I have in mind. It's going to be a reasonably pulpy game, so pulpy adventures are find.
|
#
?
Oct 11, 2013 11:54
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 1, 2024 03:28 |
|
|
If a bit of a derail is ok, I've got a question for fellow Lovecraftian horror enthusiasts: Halloween is coming up. As a kid, I always loved the houses with these big fancy tableaux set up in their yards, often with the owners taking an active role in scaring the kids. I'd kind of like to do something similar, ideally with a Lovecraftian theme to make it a bit different from the norm. I've got a small yard to work with, and a driveway that goes up along the side of my house. Any thoughts? I realize that poo poo like Cthulhu is hard to put in your yard, but maybe some sort of Herbert West kind of scene?
|
|
#
?
Oct 21, 2013 18:57
|
|
|
Put on a production of the King in Yellow in your front yard or have a statue of the King in Yellow in your front yard. At Halloween, wear a costume like the statue and do things like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCDPVjcV6ls
|
|
#
?
Oct 21, 2013 22:43
|
|
|
Pham Nuwen posted:I'd kind of like to do something similar, ideally with a Lovecraftian theme to make it a bit different from the norm. I've got a small yard to work with, and a driveway that goes up along the side of my house.   Oh man, are you in luck. Cthulhu LARPers are crazy people who are frequently into arts and crafts. They also love to post about it on the internet! The Propnomicon blog is full of some really good ideas.  And some people have puppets.
|
|
#
?
Oct 22, 2013 02:57
|
|
|
shouldnt we add elder sign, eldritch horror, cthulhu flux, cthulhu 500, munchkin cthulhu, cthulhu gloom? edit: Oh and mansions of madness
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2013 00:28
|
|
|
Feel free to write any of those up that you play, and I'll put it straight into the OP! e: Er, some of those already have writeups in the OP - I'll sort this out soon. moths fucked around with this message at 16:20 on Dec 7, 2013 |
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2013 01:12
|
|
|
Elder Sign - Fantasy Flight Games Elder Sign is a strategic dice rolling game. Many elements have been taken from Arkham horror to include items, characters, and mythos monsters. entire game takes place within the museum of Arkham. Cooperative game play, randomly generated adventures. takes 30-120 minutes. Also available on IOS and Android. Expansions differ between physical and digital versions. Features: - Solo play option - Won't take many many hours - Randomly generated tasks - mobile version Mansions of Madness - Fantasy Flight Games  Essentially a visual representation of CoC. comes with many highly detailed gray plastic figures. your mileage may vary depending on artistic ability. comes with 5 scenarios with several choices to make each story unique to that game's experience. expansions add several more stories, characters, and monsters. Mansions of Madness is a boardgame that follows a narrative structure similar to Descent or Heroquest. Features: - visual representation of traditionally pen and paper game. - high quality figures. - ability to create custom scenarios with enough creativity. Munchkin Cthulhu - Steve Jackson Games  Munchkin Cthulhu is a stand-alone game that lampoons Lovecraft's Mythos and the horror gaming that surrounds it. Brought to you by Steve Jackson and John Kovalic, this set features four Classes – including the Cultist – and a lot of classic monsters from outside reality. And they all have Stuff you can take from their twitching bodies. (From the site) It's a Munchkin game with John Kovalic art, and all that that entails. It actually introduced some interesting mechanics, but at the end of the day you've probably got your own opinion either way about it. Features: - Whimsical illustrations - Is munchkin - illustrations from "unspeakable vault" Eldritch Horror- Fantasy Flight Games.  Essentially a world wide Arkham Horror. Many differences however include a new travel mechanic as well as the focus on solving mysteries and not so much focus on closing gates. Cthulhu Gloom-  Just a mythos version of the traditional Gloom. Make your own family go insane to win. effects stack due to clear plastic nature of the cards. several expansions exist. Cthulhu Flux-  Just a Cthulhu flavored version of flux. Cthulhu 500-  Card/dice racing game based on Cthulhu motifs. Cthulhu Dice- Steve jackson games  Beer and Peanuts dice rolling game. literally no strategy, just roll the dice of doom and push token around.
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2013 02:19
|
|
|
Arkham Horror- The largest Cthulhu game to date. solo play or up to as many players as your table can fit. play lasts 2-12 hours. Game can be expanded with 3 "large box expansions" that add new board tiles, great old ones, and characters. . 4 small box expansions that add cards ancient ones, and monsters. and one large box expansion that expands the expansions. Play focuses on closing gates and preventing the old one from entering the world by collecting enough elder signs. FFG also produces normal, blessed, and cursed dice for play, painted monster and character figures, and novels.
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2013 02:28
|
|
|
So I've been running a few anime Cthulhu games and now I am wondering if there's any Lovecraft stuff coming out of Japan (or any other non-English place really) I should look at that isn't that Nyarlathotep-as-a-girl anime. Any suggestions? Also taking this setting people like and adding magical girls and animes to it feels pretty good. I'm going to ruin the Dreamlands next 
|
|
#
?
Dec 7, 2013 14:56
|
|
|
You may be familiar with it, but there is an older anime called Demonbane that merely has the Necronomicron as a magical girl. There are also a few visual novels that work in Lovecraftian imagery or monsters, but most of these are a little too much anime and not enough Lovecraft for me. Other than those, I don't really know of anything. I think Uzumaki and some other Junji Ito works touch on Lovecraftian ideas like obsession and cosmic horror, but definitely not the established mythos.
|
|
#
?
Dec 9, 2013 19:10
|
|
|
This article may enlighten you http://lovecraftzine.com/2013/01/09/the-cthulhu-mythos-in-japan/
|
|
#
?
Dec 9, 2013 20:08
|
|
|
Been playing the iOS Elder Sign game for a while now and just beat the recent expansion The Dark Pharaoh, which just didn't want to end. I think I found the best investigation team for this game though and have beat every expansion with, Joe Diamond. This guy rocks and I always liked to play as him for Arkham Horror but he's almost too good in Elder Sign, he gets a free re-roll with a clue token and it almost feels like I'm cheating. Anyways just wanted to comment on how much the new expansions for Elder Sign have changed the game, before the Ithaquah exp you would always start in the museum but with the last two, especially The Dark Pharaoh there are three whole new areas to progress through with different gameplay mechanics and restrictions along the way with a two stage boss rush. Game rules.
|
|
#
?
Jan 2, 2014 19:13
|
|
|
Any word on the new edition?
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2014 02:32
|
|
|
A little bit has been coming out, mostly in KS updates. We've gotten some sample pages to show the layout and art direction:    Which isn't as lavish as the foreign language editions, but I do dig the cleaner functional layout. They do have access to at least the some foreign art assets (I believe I read that on the layout guy's blog) and things seem to be progressing well there. Shane Tyree, Paul Carrick, Rachel Kahn, and Chris Huth, and Goomi are named as contributing artists - Which is rad, and I'm thankful they picked Goomi over John Kovalic for whatever whimsical stuff they've got in mind. As for the rules, Chaosium updated their 7e Quickstart but I haven't had a chance to comb through what changed. The last version of the quickstart had some incompatible holdover rules from 6e, and I think (hope) they have addressed that. It still seems like the prettied-up [6e + houserule buffet] we were looking at a while ago. There haven't been any bombs dropped, but I don't think anything groundbreaking was ever teased.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2014 03:09
|
|
|
I'm actually playtesting the rules for 'Elder Godlike', which integrates Lovecraftian fueled super-powers based on the old 'Godlike' RPG into the Cthulhu rules. It'll be a supplement, so it plays with the current COC and Action Cthulhu rules, not sure how it'll intergrate with 7th Edition. I can's say much about it, because y'know 'Confidentiality' etc. I can say however, that it seems pretty good so far, it's not quite ready for primetime, but of course that's why it's being playtested. Strong potential however.
|
|
#
?
Jan 29, 2014 13:54
|
|
|
I didn't see in the OP, but is there a wiki about cthulhu, where for example I could search about all of the dark ones to find the correct one to add to my adventure?
|
|
#
?
Mar 29, 2014 08:57
|
|
|
Fozzy The Bear posted:I didn't see in the OP, but is there a wiki about cthulhu, where for example I could search about all of the dark ones to find the correct one to add to my adventure? http://www.yog-sothoth.com/wiki/index.php/Cthulhu_Mythos
|
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2014 19:08
|
|
|
Well after wanting to buy Arkham Horror for a long time I finally bit the bullet and it arrives tomorrow. I was looking at a few of the expansions available and I noticed that one of them (Kingsport) is currently selling on Amazon for nearly $200 by itself. Is there a particular reason for this? Has that particular expansion (or the entire series) been discontinued or is it just a shady seller?
|
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2014 07:27
|
|
|
It appears to just be a shady seller, though it could be an earlier print run of the expansion. I wouldn't worry too much about Arkham Horror going away any time soon. It's still a juggernaut in terms of modern board gaming, and has many other successful products under its line, like Mansions of Madness, Elder Sign, and Eldritch Horror. I recommend you look into Eldritch Horror instead of an expansion, as EH has cleaned up many of the clunky, unwieldy parts of AH. The board game thread here likes to hate on Arkham Horror, but if you tell them why you like it and what you're interested in, they can give you good recommendations.
|
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2014 16:13
|
|
|
In case anyone hasn't seen, the current Bundle of Holding is PDFs of every (IIRC) Delta Green sourcebook.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2014 05:04
|
|
|
My group has been playing Cthulhu for quite a while, and we just wrapped up Masks of Nyarlathotep, which was a ton of fun. My DM is now working on a completely homemade campaign, but is looking to make it WAYYY less combat oriented than Masks was, and is having some trouble wrapping his head around how to write a mostly investigative-focused non-combat CoC campaign that doesn't just boil down to knowledge rolls. Can anyone recommend a good pre-written investigative-focused module with minimal combat (of any system, really, I suppose) that he should look at just to help get ideas on how to run a campaign like this?
|
|
#
?
Apr 19, 2014 18:10
|
|
|
Aerox posted:Can anyone recommend a good pre-written investigative-focused module with minimal combat (of any system, really, I suppose) that he should look at just to help get ideas on how to run a campaign like this? "The Armitage Files" for Gumshoe's "Trail of Cthulhu." It's essentially a series of open ended clues that the GM can fit together however they want, based partly on what parts of it the players latch onto as important. If your GM is okay with not having everything planned out intricately to start, it's a good way to run a game - and some smart plotting can make everything "fit" in retrospect.
|
|
#
?
Apr 19, 2014 18:44
|
|
|
From what I have seen of the Armitage Files that really is the best possible suggestion, but generally speaking the best way to avoid both combat and Investigation rolls is to give players real-life things to play with, ala the Armitage Files' copious handouts. My Savage Worlds Cthulhu campaign has accumulated probably 100 various props over the years, from cryptic drawings and manifestos to enigmatically-marked maps and scraps of fabric, and up until a point players almost always seem to have more fun actually examining things than making rolls to examine things. There is definitely a way to go too far, though. When I realized that my players had started just adding new props to the pile and making a note of their existence I decided I had overdone it, haha. But they have also survived far longer than you would in a regular Cthulhu game.
|
|
#
?
Apr 20, 2014 06:20
|
|
|
Okay, so this has never happened before, but there's a card-based Cthulhu kickstarter going: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1649598142/cthulhus-vault Sarcasm aside, it's pretty reasonably priced and is already funded. They've promised to put up a draft of the rules and a play example before the kickstarter ends; personally, that's what I'm waiting for.
|
|
#
?
Apr 25, 2014 17:54
|
|
|
Hey neat, Jolly Roger Games is still around! I recently bought a random "essays on roleplaying" book they put out in 2000 and I assumed they had long since folded. OK so this is a real company making a Cthulhu game! That makes it slightly less common.
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2014 18:44
|
|
|
Spotted in the Steals and Deals thread:inklesspen posted:The latest Bundle of Holding is Trail of Cthulhu. Basic buy is $8.95 for the core book, GM screen, and a pulpy four-pack of adventures by Robin D Laws. Beat the average (currently $20.32) to add Bookhounds of London, along with some in-universe documents for your investigators to pour over. I've heard great things about Bookhounds, really looking forward to pickling this up!
|
|
#
?
May 6, 2014 14:49
|
|
|
If a nice goon could drop $10,000 onto that bundle of holding so I can get a free copy of Eternal Lies, that would be very appreciated.
|
|
#
?
May 15, 2014 16:27
|
|
|
Well, after a few sessions of running some friends (who had never played an RPG before) through Edge of Darkness and The Haunting, we've decided to jump in the deep end. They're having a lot of fun, and I've remember how much I love this system. I just picked up Shadows of Yog-Sothoth, Masks of Nyarlathotep, and Tatters of the King. It's going to be a lot of fun to immerse them fully into the mythos.
|
|
#
?
May 25, 2014 03:55
|
|
|
If you run Masks, I recommend: http://www.yog-sothoth.com/files/file/532-masks-of-nyarlathotep-companion-v09/
|
|
#
?
May 25, 2014 08:16
|
|
|
clockworkjoe posted:If you run Masks, I recommend: http://www.yog-sothoth.com/files/file/532-masks-of-nyarlathotep-companion-v09/ Already got a copy of it from a while back, thanks. It looks like it's going to be very very helpful. Now just to wait for reprints of Beyond the Mountains of Madness and Orient Express.
|
|
#
?
May 25, 2014 14:50
|
|
|
Enentol posted:Already got a copy of it from a while back, thanks. It looks like it's going to be very very helpful. There was actually a kickstarter for a reprint of 'Horror on the Orient Express' a year or so back. It was really successful, with a few additions in the vein of 'The Refinery Raid' bonus scenario on the reprint of Escape from Innsmouth. it's getting dangerously close to release. Chaosium was actually very on the ball with regards to keeping backers updated on the ups and downs of the project, which can be a rarity with Kickstarters.
|
|
#
?
May 25, 2014 20:08
|
|
|
Enentol posted:Already got a copy of it from a while back, thanks. It looks like it's going to be very very helpful. "Mountains" was the first phonebook-sized gaming book I ever bought.  It's epic, it's fairly well plotted out, and it's HARD. Not unforgiving, but legitimately challenging and requiring some serious player thought. It's quite immersive, and with some tweaking can be worked into a truly epic campaign. The novella "At the Mountains of Madness" is actually an in-game prop, too. It's on my DM wishlist for adventures I *want* to run when I have the time and a sufficiently committed group.
|
|
#
?
May 26, 2014 15:33
|
|
|
I have to run a four-session adventure in Trail of Cthulhu for our FLGS here in Seattle. Here's the adventure I have 'cooked up'  quote:Priteca is the hottest restaurant in Seattle in 1935, which makes it all the more shocking when Thaddeus Lyman, the head chef, is gunned down by robed figures bursting through the front door. The police are stumped; other than a vague description (they stank of fish), the robed figures seem to have been perfect criminals.
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2014 04:02
|
|
|
I think it's a solid spine. Not too complicated, a bit squicky with the cannibalism. Here are some of my thoughts: On the story: - When I think cannibalism and wendigos, I immediately think of Ithaqua. Are your wendigos created by cannibalism, as kind of Northern ghouls, or are they something different? - I think combining Dagon and cannibalism is an interesting twist, but why do these Deep Ones worship in this way? - Why does Chef Lyman do this? Is it for a thrill? Does he really believe that the apex of cooking requires serving up intelligent creatures? - Does eating human or wendigo do anything to the eater? - Regardless of how cannibalism affects the eater, I would definitely make one of the pregens a restaurant patron or food critic who's sampled some of Lyman's odder dishes. I think answering some of these will help with your middle act, as they will provide clues. If your game is in Seattle and you're playing in Seattle is seems like sprinkling in a few more scenes at recognizable landmarks would be fun, too. On the gameplay side: - When you say that the shooters are nigh-perfect criminals, what clues does that leave for your players? It is Gumshoe, after all, and if they're willing to spend Investigative points it seems like they should be able to find something that the police have missed. - Since you're using pregens, you can get around this, but the first time that I ran with ToC, all the characters ended up being from very different backgrounds and didn't really share clues with each other. You can write the characters into a common backstory and/or use something like Dungeon World's or Monster of the Week's bond system to make sure that they actually have some connections. - Are all the villagers in on the cult or only some of them? - What happens if they decide that the whole village is in on the plot and try to arrest them all? Or if they distrust the advice from the elders? The last couple might seem like I expect your players to try and sideline the mystery - I don't, but it can be helpful to brainstorm places where it gets away from your expectations. In terms of just running the game, I also recommend checking out the many useful documents on Pelgrane Press' website. But if you only use one, I'd use the investigator matrix - which gives you a quick reference of who has which skill, so you don't have to ask who it was that had Archaeology. I hope it goes well! You should write up a game report afterwards, I always like reading those. Sionak fucked around with this message at 19:36 on Jun 5, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2014 19:34
|
|
|
As a side note, it's kinda lovely to just go "savage nobles! tribal magic!" and introduce Native Americans as cannibal madmen, from a 'problematic themes' standpoint. To that end, I've replaced the Native Americans and their tribe with Scandinavian fisherman a la Deadliest Catch, because that gives them the same (more?) access to 'strange meats,' and because this is a loving terrifying sight: quote:I think answering some of these will help with your middle act, as they will provide clues. If your game is in Seattle and you're playing in Seattle is seems like sprinkling in a few more scenes at recognizable landmarks would be fun, too.  And while the Space Needle is still 30 years from being built, the underground passages running through downtown are still infested with bums, rats... and worse quote:- Regardless of how cannibalism affects the eater, I would definitely make one of the pregens a restaurant patron or food critic who's sampled some of Lyman's odder dishes. Shrecknet fucked around with this message at 19:57 on Jun 5, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2014 19:50
|
|
|
Everblight posted:As a side note, it's kinda lovely to just go "savage nobles! tribal magic!" and introduce Native Americans as cannibal madmen, from a 'problematic themes' standpoint. To that end, I've replaced the Native Americans and their tribe with Scandinavian fisherman a la Deadliest Catch, because that gives them the same (more?) access to 'strange meats,' and because this is a loving terrifying sight: Man, that picture is great and I think the change is probably a good call. It also works really well with the themes from Shadow over Innsmouth with desperate fishermen striking deals with undersea powers.
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2014 20:13
|
|
|
There's a really rad Delta Green sourcebook that has a remote Haida tribe breeding with Deep Ones, similar to a second Innsmouth. They managed to make it sinister without going too far down the Magical Native path - probably worth checking out. It's in Targets of Opportunity I think?Everblight posted:Oh for sure. The Pike Place market... what happens under it? Overexpensive parking and tourist poo poo. 
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2014 21:16
|
|
|
Peas and Rice posted:Overexpensive parking and tourist poo poo. The Gum Wall's endless cacophony of colors twists and swirls, with insects grown turgid feeding off saliva-coated sugar crawling among its technicolor paste. In the distance above, a fish travels through the air. It would think of the insousiance of attempting the acts only birds are privvy to, were its brains not pulled out hours ago by the fisherman's wickedly-curved knife.
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2014 21:39
|
|
|
The Gum Wall is one of the grossest things I've ever seen in my entire life and looking at it should result in automatic sanity loss.
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2014 21:58
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 1, 2024 03:28 |
|
|
Does anyone here know when Derleth's works will pas into public domain?
|
|
#
?
Jun 10, 2014 03:12
|
|
